My explorations of the technical world started with Legos, with which I was quite creative in constructing moving objects with the basic building blocks that were then available.

Explorations into chemistry were done in our basement, sometimes with friends, and my parents must have had quite a bit of confidence in my abilities when they allowed me to experiment with explosive mixtures.

I think both running and science reflect certain character traits. I have endurance, patience, and ambition. I'm willing to work hard toward a goal, to push myself and overcome limits. Running and science both let me express these traits.

When I run, I think about everything: physics, family problems, plans for the weekend. I haven't made any big discoveries on a run, but it does give me time to think through problems. Some solutions are obvious, but they are only obvious when you are relaxed enough to find them.

My mother was a big influence; she was exceedingly chic, completely dressed in a completely different manner than I did. I was a child of the Depression, so she taught me all about accessories, and I always tell everybody she worships at the altar of the accessory.

For an incumbent like a president, who's been in the news every day, their family, they're well known.

I was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, and we lived there for three to five years - with my mother and father. And then they divorced and she came back to America.

I had both my children at home. It came naturally to me.